


We Need An App

by fairytalehearts



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-30
Updated: 2015-01-30
Packaged: 2018-03-09 16:23:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3256514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairytalehearts/pseuds/fairytalehearts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No harm ever came from an app... </p><p>Post Newsroom Series Finale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Need An App

**Author's Note:**

> I make no profit from this work of fiction

“We need an app. That is what the tech genius told me, and I told him that the last tech genius was eviscerated by me on national television and then he gave me this.”

Don was not sure what Sloan had been rambling on about, but whatever it was it was apparently of the utmost importance. More important than endangered animals or nuclear testing in North Korea or even the fact that her mother was in town and they had yet to say hi, or that it was 2AM.

She shoves a folder at him. There were at least 500 pages of specs, research and polling information about various apps the first of which was a financial analysis app. With her face on it. Oh. That’s what this was about.

“Isn’t this your dream? The masses learning financial information from you but not necessarily _by_ you?” Don wasn’t sure which way this was going to blow up, but he figured that picking a side was better than staying indifferent.

“Neal Sampat has a mastercut-supercut-something cut of all the times I have given financial advice, on any market or topic, since my bachelors degree. From that egregious violation of my privacy he has personally vetted every statement I’ve ever made and then programmed this app, with my name and face on it, to help consumers understand the importance of being consumers. People can- once a week ask a financial question that is screened to Skeevy Asshole’s terminal and then will be asked live on air on Wednesdays in the C Block. He calls it something equally disturbing, _Sloan’s Loans_ or _Have it with Sabbith_ that illiterates/rhymes in a completely unintelligent fashion”

“This says Money Night. And offers a pitch of expanding your five minutes to ten minutes. He also pitches a follow-up question or interview in my A block so there’s that He’s also not going to let you screen the questions and thinks that this will increase the validity of your brand by at least a couple points.  I’m not sure exactly which point scale he’s using, maybe it’s arbitrary. But Neal takes Skeevy Asshole’s stupid concept of viewer interaction and keeps it in line with the show.” Don can read and listen, she likes to forget that fact.

Sloan pouts, actually pouts and he may break one of his personal views of sexualizing her when she’s ranting but she snaps him back to reality when she looks like she’s about to cry.

“Neal spent his whole exile watching Skeevy’s ruining of his baby and then came back and whipped them back into shape. He has fifty ideas in there, all that he vetted making an accurate sample of the population from tourists he’d met and his best idea is to put me on an app.”

Don held an arm out and she sat down, “I don’t think I’ve ever been this professionally happy.”

Damnit Sloan. He would never really understand that woman. But he was oddly excited to try.

**

“Do you come to my rundowns to see how it’s done?” Jim asked picking up any stray papers and heading for the door of the conference room.

Their meetings were mainly the same. Mac was still there. Will was still there. Jim was still- Jim. Jim minus Maggie anyway. He was so focused, especially on Mondays it was creepy. Really creepy. Must be the sex.

“More like I need to see which stories I can cover that you’re not. Makes my rundown so much easier when I have to axe half the stories.”

Jim takes the compliment and heads toward the cafeteria where they get their ritual coffee before Jim attends his rundown meeting. Solidarity and all that nice stuff. Elliot was usually just coming in and if Sloan wasn’t doing Market Wrapup she’d join. It was nice. Normal.

Except Elliot was already there and he was crying.

Mentally scanning his mind for reasons why his anchor would be crying he sadly accepted that he had nothing to be scanning for and jogged ahead of Jim to see what was wrong.

“I came in early to get a jump on tonight’s show and-”

Don didn’t think that they actually gave pink slips anymore. But in Elliot’s hands was a pink slip and a damnit he just bought a new car-Running to his office, a janitor was already scratching his name off the door. Jesus. Mac should have fought this. Hell, Will and Jim should have fought this-

His mailbox had an envelope in it, written in Pruitt’s handwriting.

From this moment on _Right Now with Elliot Hirsch_ is cancelled. Starting next Monday at 10pm, _Money Night with Sloan Sabbith_ will launch with interactive….input…crossover… all of the quality you expect from ACN’s coverage on news from a 365 degrees… Executive Produced by Don Keefer.

At the bottom was his newly increased salary and some “notes” he planned on burning.

He yells WHAT THE FUCK so loudly he’s sure Maggie hears him in D.C.

Since he has no rundown meeting to go to, he decides to plant himself in Mac’s office and unleash unholy hell on her.

“I got the same, hipsterly written on weird paper letter you did. I think he has actual writer. Even typing this garbage would have been more efficient, don’t you think? Anyway apparently any deal Charlie made with Satan only applied to _News Night_. He’s President of the Network he can make scheduling decisions and Elliot’s contract with Reese was for him to keep at least 50% of our viewers. Which we both know hasn’t happened in a long time. I’ve reviewed Sloan’s contract and it’s quite generous. She can talk about anything she wants as long as it’s relatable to finance. Which apparently everything is, so there’s that. I can go to bat for Elliot but I need to pick my battles, Don. Let’s be real. You two are your best with each other. Have you even talked to Sloan?”

“She’s doing Market Wrapup. Then her mother is coming and we’re going to lunch. Which means she will subtly buy me a new suit and tie because she has methodically been throwing away everything that that I own because I do not care about things like clothes and labels but her mother came from nothing and it’s important to show something something-anyway Sloan doesn’t have her phone on her and she hasn’t been to the office yet. ”

“You realize that this whole conversation could have been done via text message because I am now in charge of seven news shows. Seven. I didn’t even know we had three. I am pregnant and hungry and my husband is knee deep in work and you have sufficiently answered my question. Please tell Elliot I will help him anytime he needs because he is not taking my call.”

Mac storms out of the office, and Don mentally counts to three before she turns on her heel. “This is my office. Get out.”

Neither of them mention the fact that the door says Charlie Skinner still, with Mac’s name written on a piece of tape underneath it.

**

Office gossip, especially between the two night shows spread like wildfire.

Elliot’s walk of shame was so early in the day that no one saw it, but they definitely saw Neal updating the website and twitter handle. Thankfully since the team left with him the first time they stayed the second time and after a brief “go brush up on your finance skills” talk they were accepting the transition.

Sloan comes into his office, with not one, but three suits.

“So, I like you in blue, but then I thought that might be too “Summers in The Hamptons” but then gray is so dull and-”

Don doesn’t even need to stop her, “Oh god. Who died. I kept getting phone calls but I was shopping and-”

He flips up the placard on his desk that reads “Money Night with Sloan Sabbith”

“We’ll be working together a lot more. Congratulations, you’ve been promoted to ten o’clock.”

Sloan, the beautiful genius, takes a beat before yelling WHAT THE FUCK, in a truly Don-esque fashion.

He recounts the morning’s activities before picking up the blue suit. She always thought she needed to con him into everything when she obviously wanted him to wear it.

“We only have a week to prep a whole new show. Exciting times at ACN.”  Don gently pulled the tags off his new clothing and fixed his collar.

“This is all Sampat’s fault. That stupid app.”

“We will figure this out.” Don reassured her, “Come on how bad could it be?”

**

In fact, it was not bad at all. Their first show where Sloan ranted about whatever she wanted, and interviewed whomever she wanted goes off without a hitch. Neal’s social media promotion got them excellent premiere numbers and they were just a hairs width away from winning the night.

Plus the congratulatory sex afterwards was truly epic, and not that he liked to brag-

“I didn’t want my own show. Much. But as my EP, I think it’s fair to say that I have lots of ideas.” Sloan slammed two boxes down on his desk, “Since it’s not a presidential election year, I want Obama the last week of his term.”

Don is definitely too tired for this conversation, “You want the leader of the free world to come on a ten o’clock news show in New York.”

“He can record it, that would perfectly acceptable as long as I can actually ask him what he’s doing about the Fed- he has time to make real changes the last week of his presidency.”

Don seriously doubts that Sloan can change the mind of the president on national television, but he makes the call anyway.  It was really hard to argue with her when neither of them were wearing pants. He was also being very cool for not mentioning the box of ideas was in a box that read “Stuff 9 o’clock Should Be Covering”.

That was leverage for a different argument.

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
